Myke the Gamer's Guide to Building an MTG Deck

(Not an actual card.) I'll open this ongoing blog with a Commander deck I call 'Everyone Knows It's Missy'. I came across the card in the Gathering Dr Who- Masters of Evil deck. Missy is a Legendary Time Lord Rogue, wonderfully portrayed by Michelle Gomez during Peter Capaldi's tenure as the Doctor.  Davros, Dalek Creator is a pretty strong Commander on its own, generating a 3/3 Dalek every upkeep if an opponent suffered 3+ damage that turn once Davros enters the battlefield. I felt the Missy card could build a decent deck. Currently, the deck breaks down like this: 1% COMMANDER Missy (LC-Time Lord Rogue) {3(G), 1(I), 1(M), 1(S)} 35% LAND/MANA 11 Islands 10 Mountains 10 Swamps Bloodfell Caves (r->) to add black or red mana Command Tower Evolving Wilds Ominous Cemetery 39% CREATURES KEY (AC)- Artifact Creatures (LAC)-Legendary Artifact Creatures (LC)- Legendary Creature (C)- Creature {MANA COST KEY} (G) Gray; or colorless mana (I) Island (M) Mountain (S) Swamp    ...

My initial introduction to Magic the Gathering happened during a long rehearsal for a show I was directing. I noticed some of the actors used the downtime to spar against each other Taunts and braggadocio were exchanged between factions. I thought they were just playing War with a standard deck of 52 cards. It wasn't until I heard one of the actors say, "I play a swamp, tap it with another swamp and three additional mana and summon Sangir Vampire..." that I knew there was more to the moment.  My curiosity piqued. After rehearsal, I asked them what they were playing. They showed me their cards and quickly explained the game. One of them offered to build me a deck of his extra cards. These were pre-Commander days. Forty cards made a deck at the time. I think we went as large as sixty in the coming years. We met regularly to game. I introduced my son to the magic. Oddly enough, I discovered people I'd been friends with for years also played though we had never discussed ...